


I Love You

by courtinator



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek Hale, Angst, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Derek Hale is Bad at Feelings, Derek Hale is Not a Failwolf, Erica Reyes Lives, Established Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Family Feels, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Isaac Lahey Feels, M/M, POV Derek Hale, Pack Feels, Romance, Stiles Stilinski is Part of the Hale Pack, The Hale Pack - Freeform, Vernon Boyd & Erica Reyes Return to Beacon Hills, Vernon Boyd Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 02:28:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30082095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/courtinator/pseuds/courtinator
Summary: Stiles convinces Derek to take an interesting approach when it comes to bonding with his pack.
Relationships: Derek Hale & Erica Reyes, Derek Hale & Isaac Lahey, Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Vernon Boyd & Derek Hale
Comments: 4
Kudos: 122





	I Love You

**Author's Note:**

> Set after season 2 and before the events of season 3. Boyd and Erica come back, but most of those details are glossed over, since they aren't the focus of the story.

“I love you?” Derek repeated, wanting to make sure he heard him right.

“Yeah,” Stiles snorted, rolling his eyes at his boyfriend. “Why do you make it sound like something crazy?”

“Because it is crazy,” Derek said, leaning back on the pillow to get a better look at him.

“Not for normal people,” Stiles scoffed, poking him in the chest. Derek grabbed him by the wrist, refraining from sticking the assaulting digits in his mouth.

“Well, I’m not really normal,” Derek agreed, rolling over so he was hovering over Stiles’ body. Stiles squirmed a little, trying to get into a more comfortable position under him.

“You can say that again,” Stiles grinned, thrusting his hips up to meet his. Derek groaned, wanting to keep going, but needing to continue with their conversation. They’d been talking about ways to get the pack closer together, when what Derek considered an off the wall suggestion flew out of Stiles’ mouth. His mouth was always doing tricky things.

“You think I should tell my Betas that I love them?” Derek asked again, unable to resist pressing light kisses to Stiles’ jaw. There were much different things he’d rather be doing than discussing pack dynamics, and they all involved Stiles writhing underneath him.

“Yes, I do. You should always tell people you love them while you have the chance,” Stiles said, sounding more somber than Derek was used to. He leaned up, staring down at the slight boy beneath him. It had only been a few weeks since Boyd and Erica had come back after escaping from the Argent’s basement. They had continued with their plan of taking off to find a new pack, but found out soon enough that they were just being lured away to send a message to Derek. They came back battered and bloody with their tails between their legs, promising to never do that again. He’d accepted them back of course, but it still didn’t feel the same. Derek had felt hurt that they would leave him in the first place, but he really couldn’t blame them after everything that had gone on. They all needed to figure out how to coexist in a pack. Derek was used to being in a pack with his blood family, so he wasn’t used to bonding with practical strangers.

Thinking back to those nights made him shudder, remembering the sight of Stiles’ bruised face. Even after all that, he’d rode in to save the day. If he hadn’t, Derek wasn’t sure how the fight with the kanima would’ve ended. Isaac was still on the ground recovering from his wounds and it would’ve been nothing for Jackson to lean down and rip him apart. But this beautiful boy had come through, giving them the opportunity to get out of the situation alive. Derek had snuck into his room that night, leaving the game playing days behind them and making his feelings known. They’d been together ever since, catching up on all that time wasted.

“How do I say it? Do I just go up to them and throw it out there?” Derek asked, pinching the bridge of his nose in confusion.

“Only you would think up a drive by I love you,” Stiles chuckled, using his momentary distraction to switch positions. Stiles shot him a cocky grin, as if Derek hadn’t taught him that specific move during a training session. He only half let him do it. “Do you actually love them? You shouldn’t say it if you don’t. Not with your heartbeat lie detector abilities.”

“I don’t know. I guess,” Derek sighed. That was a hard question. He hadn’t let himself care about people for so long he wasn’t sure if he knew how to anymore. His thing with Stiles was different, because that was romance. With his pack, that was family. And for the longest time the thoughts of family only equaled pain. But he didn’t want it to anymore. Stiles was teaching him how good being happy could feel and he wanted it in all aspects of his life, not just in bed.

“You guess?” Stiles prodded, settling back to sit across Derek’s thighs.

“I mean, I feel like I could. There’s that natural bond that comes when you turn someone. It’s kind of hard to explain,” Derek said, frowning in concentration. Words weren’t really his thing, especially when it came to talking about emotions.

“Do you feel it with Jackson?” Stiles questioned, getting a snort out of him.

“Hardly,” Derek scoffed, thinking back to who should’ve been his first Beta. He hadn’t really thought about being stuck with the boy after he’d bitten him, which was a stupid oversight on his part, but it hadn’t worked out that way in the end. And he couldn’t say he was too torn up about it. Derek could admit he felt guilty about what happened to him, but he realistically had no idea it would go so badly. If anything, he could see Isaac turning into a kanima, but people were good at hiding trauma sometimes. Isaac wore his like an albatross around his neck.

“Well, doesn’t that tell you something?” Stiles pointed out, the surprisingly wise bastard. When Boyd and Erica left, it had hurt him. He lashed out because he wanted them to feel the pain he was feeling. When Jackson said he was leaving, he kind of felt relief. So maybe there was a difference there. And when he’d heard Isaac had stayed instead of taking off with his mates, he’d felt that warm feeling in his belly too. Isaac was the first of his Betas to choose him, to stay loyal. Sure, he’d shown up to the warehouse with Scott, but he’d gone home with Derek. Derek always fell asleep to the quiet snuffling sounds of his young Beta.

“Okay, maybe you’re right,” Derek admitted, closing his eyes.

“You know how much easier things would go if you just remembered that from the beginning?” Stiles laughed, leaning down to kiss Derek’s eyelids.

“How could I forget?” Derek grumbled, his sounds turning to purrs when Stiles began kissing down his neck.

“Don’t worry, I’ll always be here to remind you,” Stiles mumbled against his skin, yanking down the neck of his shirt to get more access. Okay, the talking could wait.

*

Derek decided to start with Boyd, because he figured this would be the easiest one to get through. Boyd was the most level headed of his Betas and the least likely to even react to the words. Well, he hadn’t been expecting Boyd to be so willing to take off with Erica either, so he couldn’t be too sure.

Derek waited until he knew they would be alone, with Erica at her mom’s house and Isaac out with Stiles. It was rare for it to be just the two of them in the depot, so he had to take the chance he was presented with while he had it.

Boyd was sitting on the stairs like he was known to do, leaning back and reading a book. Stiles had found a few legit looking books on werewolf lore and after Derek flipped through them to make sure they weren’t complete bullshit, he’d set them out for his Betas to read if they wanted to. Erica had turned her nose up at them, claiming all she needed to know about werewolves she could learn from experience. Isaac had half heartedly thumbed through one, before reaching something that made him slam the book down and scamper away without a word, like the page was contagious. Maybe the detailed illustration of a wolf being cut in half wasn’t the best thing for Isaac to see right after he’d been a second away from experiencing it himself. But Boyd had pounced on the books immediately, always wanting to know every detail of a situation that he could before diving in. He’d even shared some of the things he’d learned to the others, if he thought it was helpful.

“Come across anything interesting?” Derek asked, approaching the stairs as casually as he could muster. Boyd looked up, the barest hint of confusion flashing across his face. So maybe Derek wasn’t the type to start conversations.

“I was just reading about the origins of all the myths surrounding silver,” Boyd answered, carefully tucking a bookmark between the pages he was on. While Boyd was by far the biggest member of the pack, he was also the most careful. Isaac tried to be careful, but he was too twitchy. Whereas Isaac’s cautiousness had been bred from survival, Boyd’s just seemed like his natural demeanor.

“I kind of like how wrong everyone is about that part. Helps us catch people off guard,” Derek said with a grin. Talking about violence was always a good segue to professing affection. When Boyd didn’t continue the conversation, Derek knew it was probably a good enough time to come out with what he’d been planning. No need to stretch things out and make them more awkward. “Well, I’ll let you get back to it. Just wanted to check up and let you know I love you.”

Derek could practically feel Stiles’ slap on the back of his head. How utterly unsmooth was that? Boyd was staring at him blankly, probably trying to figure out if his Alpha had been body snatched or abducted by aliens. He kind of wished he was right now. Maybe he could fall back and shake a little, pretend a demon was shooting out of him. That wouldn’t be a good look though.

“Did something happen?” Boyd asked finally, setting his book to the side. That was probably a natural reaction to this surprise talk.

“No, well yeah, but not recently,” Derek stammered, trying to collect his thoughts. Boyd would probably appreciate something quick and to the point. “I guess I never really let you guys know how happy I was for you to come back. Not really about how it happened, but relieved that it at least brought you back home. I understand now why you left, but I hope you won’t want to again. And I just wanted to let you all know how I felt about you.”

“Oh,” Boyd said after a few moments, looking down in contemplation. Derek couldn’t really expect more after ambushing him with all this. A neutral reaction was definitely better than a negative one.

“Well, I’ll let you get back to it,” Derek repeated, cringing at how he sounded like an awkward parent. He tapped on the handrail and stalked off, trying to get far enough away that any internal reactions he might have wouldn’t be sensed by his Beta. Stiles’ idea was terrible.

“Hey Derek,” Boyd called out to him just as he was about to enter the old train. He paused and turned his head, waiting for whatever Boyd wanted to say to him. “Thanks.” Well, that wasn’t so bad. Derek flashed him a smile, giving him a nod before continuing on his way. Stiles’ idea wasn’t so terrible.

*

Derek could admit that he was nervous to talk to Erica, after that stunt she pulled during training. It was only the morning after he’d talked to Boyd, but he didn’t want to drag this out longer than he needed to. It didn’t seem like Boyd had told the others what happened, because they weren’t acting any differently, but he couldn’t expect that to last too much longer.

The three of them had only left for school an hour earlier, but Erica swaggered back into the building and plopped down on one of the benches. Derek didn’t really care about school all that much, but he’d prefer if they saved their skipping for important pack business instead of just whenever they wanted.

“What’re you doing back?” Derek asked, leaning against a pole across from her.

“Forgot a paper. Thought I left it here,” Erica answered, making a show of glancing around herself before shrugging. “Oh well.”

“So are you gonna go back to school?” Derek questioned, cocking his head to the side.

“No point anymore really. School’s out in like a week and I’ve already passed my classes so…” Erica trailed off, checking her nails. It was always good to have at least one girl in your pack, but they were always the trickiest. No matter what society tried to tell you about the dynamics between women and men, a female werewolf was less likely to submit to an Alpha. While the males seemed to accept the hierarchy more easily, you usually had to earn a woman’s respect before they gave you any in return. Erica was no exception.

She had flourished after the bite, coming into her own and using all of her newfound powers. It would either be her path to greatness or lead to her downfall, depending on how she could harness it. Derek still saw flashes of the girl he’d offered the gift to, but they were fewer as time went on. The attack after running off seemed to knock her off her axis a bit, but he could see her desperately scrambling to regain that control she’d lost. He just hoped she wouldn’t take it too far and harden her heart enough to block any good coming in along with the bad. Like he had for so long.

“Alright,” Derek sighed, scratching at his chin a little while he hyped himself up for this next part. Fighting hunters didn’t even feel this stressful. “Let me know if you want to train or something, okay? And I love you.” Erica snorted, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

“What was that?” she laughed, squinting her big brown eyes in suspicion.

“I just wanted to let you guys know how I feel, I guess,” Derek mumbled, hoping she knew better than to take this as a declaration of romantic love. They were not that kind of pack.

“If you’re trying to manipulate me into not leaving again, don’t bother. I’m not planning on going anywhere,” Erica muttered, looking away in anger.

“No, it’s not that,” Derek said, walking over to join her on the bench. Erica kept her head tilted away from him, but he could tell she was listening. “After everything that’s happened, I just thought I should let my feelings be known. I know from experience that tomorrow is never guaranteed, so no matter what happens, I want you guys to know how I feel about you. Pack is family and that’s important.” Erica turned toward him a little, her eyes taking that doe like quality it always had before. Derek knew she was thinking about what he said, probably picking it apart and analyzing every word to see if there was any hidden context. He let her have her time, just waiting patiently with a calm look on his face.

“Um, I don’t really know what to say,” Erica admitted, biting her lip. Derek chuckled, because he felt the same way.

“That’s okay. You don’t have to say anything,” Derek laughed, giving her a friendly tap on the arm. “Wanna go for a run maybe? Then get some breakfast somewhere?” That finally got a smile out of her, giving him a little nod.

“Let me change first,” Erica said, darting to her little corner of the depot. Derek leaned back, pleased with how well this was going. He was on such a good roll, his talk with Isaac would probably go smoothly too.

*

His talk with Isaac did not go smoothly. Derek saved his talk with Isaac specifically because he knew it would probably be the most difficult. Isaac was the most complicated of his Betas, thanks to his history.

He didn’t have to worry about finding the perfect opportunity to have the talk with Isaac, since he was the only one who slept at the depot with him every night. The others still had homes to go back to, but Derek was Isaac’s home. He hadn’t been planning that when he gave the kid the bite, since his father had still been alive, but that changed pretty soon after.

Currently, Isaac was lying on a thin mattress, tossing a ball up in the air. Even Derek was bored watching him. Maybe it was time to find somewhere a little more permanent to live? Derek took a few moments to study the boy, trying to get a feel for where his head was at. Isaac had been a little twitchy recently, probably having to do with finals at school. Derek pretty much couldn’t care less about grades, but he knew Isaac’s last interaction with his father had started with that topic. Isaac had blurted out all those details when he’d ran to Derek after his father’s attack. But he seemed relaxed enough now.

“Who’s winning?” Derek asked, stepping out from behind where he was standing. Isaac flinched, just barely moving his head out of the way as the ball came back down. It rolled away under some shelves and Isaac squinted in annoyance.

“Not me, obviously,” Isaac grumbled, rolling off the mattress and to his feet. “What’s up?”

“Nothing really, just wanted to check up on how things are going with you,” Derek answered, keeping his hands down at his side so he didn’t give off aggressive vibes. Isaac always noticed things like that. “We haven’t talked much since the whole kanima thing.” Isaac unconsciously started rubbing his chest at the mention of that night. Damn Allison and those blades. He could understand her stabbing him to her heart's content, but why Isaac? Isaac was focused on the kanima, which was the most important thing. Revenge plots needed to be put on the backburner in those situations.

“Well, I’m okay,” Isaac said, shifting his weight. “Are you okay?” Was Derek okay? Physically, sure. Mentally he was having a bit of an issue. He couldn’t fault Scott for pulling that double cross on Gerard, but he had to admit that it hit him in a place he wasn’t expecting. It wasn’t so much Scott’s words about not being in his pack, it was having his body used against his will. That brought up thoughts of Kate and that was a place he never liked to go. If Scott had come to him with that plan in the beginning, he would’ve agreed, as long as they discussed things fully. But being taken advantage of when he was vulnerable was hard to get past.

“Yeah, of course,” Derek replied, needing to brush off Isaac’s concern and keep the focus off of himself. Now wasn’t the time for any of that. “Is there anything you wanted to talk about?”

“Like what?” Isaac asked quietly, his voice hesitant in that way it always got when Isaac was really nervous. Derek almost ached for the awkwardness of the last two talks. Anything would be better than the tension he was feeling now.

“I don’t know, I just wanted you to know you could come to me with anything. If you ever needed someone to talk to,” Derek shrugged. How was he going to get to the most important part if he couldn’t even get through the easy stuff?

“Did someone say something?” Isaac whispered, wringing his hands.

“Did who say anything about what?” Derek questioned, wondering how this conversation could go off the rails so quickly.

“If this is about school, I think I passed everything, okay? Please don’t be mad,” Isaac blurted out, hunching his shoulders up around his ears.

“No, I don’t care about that. Well, I care that you do well but I don’t care if you don’t. I mean, school isn’t that important in the long run, unless you want it to be,” Derek stammered, cutting himself off with a growl. Why was he so bad at this?

“Are you sure?” Isaac asked, peeking up at him through those floppy curls. He was in need of a haircut or some styling product. Just another thing Derek hadn’t been providing for his ward.

“Yeah, nothing to worry about. So, I love you, okay?” Derek mumbled, belatedly trying to plaster a smile on his face. Isaac stared at him for a moment, his eyes going wide like the first time he’d seen Derek shift into a werewolf. Derek opened his mouth to try to say more, but Isaac spun on his heel and took off without warning. Derek was so shocked he couldn’t do much more than watch him go, taking off into the darkness. He was never going to listen to Stiles again.

*

The minutes ticked by so slowly, but Derek didn’t know what to do. Should he track Isaac to make sure he was okay? Would that be too much at this point? He’d expected crying maybe, or just some more awkwardness, but full on running away hadn’t crossed his mind as a possibility. Derek thought about calling around, since Isaac didn’t have a cell phone, but he didn’t want to panic everyone and embarrass him if he was just taking a moment. He really needed to get Isaac his own phone. Speaking of phones, his dinged in his pocket, with Stiles’ special ringtone. Derek snatched it out as quick as possible, turning on the screen and hoping to read some good news.

“He’s fine. Will bring him back shortly.”

Derek slumped onto the ground, feeling the relief hit him like a bullet to the chest. He hadn’t believed that Isaac would leave like the others, but the possibility was always there. Knowing he’d gone to Stiles made him feel better, since Isaac knew that word would get back to Derek quick enough. They didn’t really talk to the rest of the pack about their relationship, but it wasn’t a secret.

Derek sent back a quick “thank you” text and settled in for the wait. Hopefully talking to Stiles would help Isaac be able to articulate his feelings when he came back, instead of running off again. Derek couldn’t blame him for doing so, but he didn’t want it to happen again. He wanted Isaac to feel safe to share his thoughts and have a space to take a moment if he needed to collect them. Maybe it was time to get out of this shithole.

Looking up places to rent around town helped distract him as he waited for Isaac to come back, making notes of different listings in his phone. He made a list of the most promising looking options to show the rest of the pack, since they deserved to have their opinions known.

The low rumble of Stiles’ car outside was the most beautiful sound he’d heard in a long time and Derek jumped up from where he’d been sitting. Did he act casual or run up to Isaac as soon as he set foot in the building? He didn’t want to scare him off again, but he had the overwhelming urge to touch him to make sure he was really okay. There had been a lot of rubbing after Boyd and Erica came back, but he’d been able to disguise it as tending to their wounds. There would be no good excuse this time.

Isaac slunk into the room, keeping his head down low as he made his way down the stairs. He smelled normal and his heartbeat was mostly steady, so that was a good sign. He still wanted to get his hands on him though. Isaac walked over to him, but stopped a few yards away without making eye contact. Should Derek start this conversation or wait until Isaac did? He may be waiting for days, but he was willing.

“I’m sorry I ran off like that,” Isaac said softly, glancing up at him quickly.

“That’s okay. I’m just glad you came back,” Derek responded, trying to sound as understanding as possible. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“The last person who told me they loved me was my brother. It was the last thing he ever said to me,” Isaac blurted out, sucking in a sharp breath. He ran the back of his hand over his mouth, trying to compose himself. “And then talking about my grades always makes me think of my dad, so putting it all together, I just panicked.” Derek closed his eyes in defeat. It was like Isaac’s past was filled with landmines and he kept stepping in the wrong spots. Talking to his Betas was supposed to make things better, not dredge up old trauma.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” Derek apologized, tucking his hands behind his back so he could clench his fists without Isaac seeing.

“It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have known. I’m just sorry I’m so messed up, you know? You were trying to be nice and I ruined it,” Isaac mumbled, wrapping his arms around his stomach.

“I think we’re all a little messed up,” Derek scoffed, shaking his head. They all had bucketloads of issues to work through. “And you didn’t ruin anything. I didn’t have any ulterior motives for saying what I did. I just wanted you all to know how much you mean to me, that’s all.”

“So this didn’t make you change your mind?” Isaac asked, finally looking up at him fully and maintaining eye contact. Derek softened his features, throwing out as many caring vibes as he could muster.

“Nothing you do could change that,” Derek insisted, taking a chance and stepping forward.

“Well then, I think I love you too, if that’s okay,” Isaac said hesitantly, dropping his arms to his sides.

“Yeah, I’d say so,” Derek chuckled, carefully stepping up to Isaac and wrapping him in a hug. Isaac melted into his embrace, gripping the back of his shirt like he was desperate to hold onto him forever. Stiles had been right. Hearing those words really did mean a lot.

*

After bunking down with Isaac for the night, then sending him off with his fellow packmates in the morning, Derek made his way over to Stiles’ house. He needed to thank him for a lot of stuff. For the suggestion of the plan, for bringing Isaac back, and just for being him. He climbed up through the window, because he knew how much Stiles liked it, no matter how much he pretended otherwise. Derek stopped just outside, watching his boyfriend doze on top of his covers. He was immediately filled with such an overwhelming warmth that he felt like a completely different person.

Derek slid the window open, toeing off his shoes before carefully climbing onto bed behind the focus of his affections. He wrapped his arms around him, kissing along his neck in the spots he knew Stiles loved. The boy in question hummed in appreciation, baring more of his neck in invitation. Derek nibbled on his earlobe a little before pulling away, leaning up so he could stare down at the full picture. Stiles’ cheeks were slightly flushed and his mouth dropped open just a bit in pleasure. Derek had never seen anything more gorgeous in his life.

“I love you,” Derek said, watching his lover’s eyes slowly blink open and find his.

“Who are you practicing for this time?” Stiles murmured, letting a lazy smile drift over his face.

“No practice, just wanted to tell you,” Derek answered, running a finger down the side of Stiles’ face. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Stiles whispered, bringing his hand up to cup Derek’s cheek and bring his face down for a soft kiss. There was nothing better in this world than the feeling of Stiles’ lips pressed against his. He would do anything to keep this person in his life.

“Was this all just a ploy to get me to admit my feelings for you out loud?” Derek asked after they broke apart. Stiles laughed, licking his lips as he ran his hand down Derek’s back.

“I can’t let you in on all my secrets, can I?” Stiles giggled, walking his fingertips under the waistband of his jeans. “As long as you follow my instructions, everything will work out in the end.”

“How could I forget?” Derek grinned, flicking open the buttons of Stiles’ shirt. Stiles moaned in anticipation, biting the inside of his lip.

“Beats the hell out of me, but I’ll still be here to remind you.”

**Author's Note:**

> I don't want this to be seen as bashing any characters, even though Derek references some not so good moments with a few characters. This is taking place before they start working together more in season 3, so they haven't gotten as good at putting their differences aside and working toward a common goal.


End file.
